TALKING TO RIVKA GALCHEN
LOVE AND WEATHER | October 27th 2008
"I've always had a real envy of frigid boys", explains Rivka Galchen, author of "Atmospheric Disturbances", in an audio interview with The Economist ... From ECONOMIST.COM
Rivka Galchen's fiction debut, "Atmospheric Disturbances", is an impressive novel with a bizarre conceit. At its centre is Leo Liebenstein, the awkward, misanthropic, middle-aged hero. He has a problem: he believes his wife has been replaced by a savvy imitator, a "simulacrum". Inspired by the scientific papers of a meteorologist named Dr Tzvi Gal-Chen, he sets off on a quixotic quest to find his "real" wife.
His hapless, zealous pursuit is very funny and a little sad. “It’s not so interesting to me to think of Leo as a crazy person,” Galchen explains (listen to the full interview--it's worth it). She also talks about the awkward feat of sustaining love over time, and the "smoke and mirrors game" boys use to communicate their feelings. "Ms Galchen is a writer to be watched", according to The Economist. ~ E.B.
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